Manchester City and England winger Jack Grealish has admitted his "love" for Arsenal star Bukayo Saka during their time together at the World Cup. The Hale Ender has played a starring role for the Three Lions in Qatar with a brace in the opening 6-2 win over Iran.
Saka's impressive form for the Gunners in the first half of the season earned him a place in Gareth Southgate's starting XI for their opening two group games of the World Cup. After putting in another eye-catching performance last week against Iran, Saka did struggle against USA on Friday as the nation put in a lacklustre performance.
It's not just his performance on the field that is being appreciated with Grealish confessing his admiration for the 21-year-old for his personality behind-the-scenes. The former Aston Villa man was asked by talkSPORT who he'd like to be stuck with on a desert island and he opted for the Hale Ender.
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"Saka is the best kid actually," he said. "I went up to his dad and told him 'I love your son!' He's the nicest kid ever but he's got a little bit of banter as well. He's funny, man.
"He's laid back but when he's on the training pitch he's on it. Off it he's quite laid back and chilled.
"Do you know what, I'm going Saks. I don't know about his music but he'd make me laugh."
Saka has enjoyed a terrific start to the 2022/23 season with 11 goal involvements in 20 games. However, there remains minor concern regarding the winger's contract situation as he approaches the final 18 months of his current deal at the Emirates Stadium.
Reports earlier this season claimed that Manchester City and Real Madrid were interested in acquiring Saka's signature. Despite Arteta's confidence of keeping Saka at the club, the Citizen's financial backing has proved in the past with Grealish that they are capable of supplying an increased transfer fee to get their man.
According to CIES Football Observatory, Saka is worth £120million and it's expected that the Gunners would demand more for one of their star figures. If Pep Guardiola's side do come in for Saka, they already have glowing references from one of their English players in Grealish.
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